Have you tried a SPARKLING BLUE?

03 Jan Have you tried a SPARKLING BLUE?

Posted at 11:42h in Wine & Living, Wine News, Wine Reviews by Joanna Stevens 0 Comments

SKYFALL

If your budget does not stretch to a bottle of Champagne from Champagne ($50-100/average bottle), are looking for an alternative sparkling beverage, or you just don’t want to spend that much – there are many other countries and regions producing excellent wines with bubbles!

Where does Cava come from?

Did you know that the Barcelona region of Spain produces phenomenal bubbles? 95% of Cava is produced in El Penedès, near the coast. SKYFALL produce sparkling Blue Cava which is not only a delight to see in the glass but also tastes great. Jaume Amigó Lopez, founder of SKYFALL, joined me to answer the following questions about his iconic brand:

Introducing Jaume Amigó

Firstly, let’s begin with a brief introduction about yourself and how long you have been working with wine.

My name is Jaume Amigó and I have been working in the world of wine for more than 30 years, specifically in the world of sparkling wines. I have always been very restless since parallel to my work in the world of sparkling wines, I am a great lover of the world of the cocktail bar and about ten years ago I began to investigate how to merge both worlds.

Next for the big question on everyone’s lips, why does SKYFALL produce blue Cava? What was the intention and motivation behind making it blue?

As I said before, one of my great passions is the world of cocktails. My curiosity worked alongside my desire to innovate. My modest contribution and intention was to reinvent the world of sparkling giving the world a change that would be different from other sparkling. I researched and tested until I developed this stunning sparkling turquoise blue.

What do you use to make the Cava BLUE? Is it a natural product?

Yes, it is a natural product. As you will understand, it is a secret formula, based on infusing certain flowers with the expedition liquor.

Suitable for Vegans

We know that your product is suitable for vegans, a current ‘buzzword’ in the wine industry, what other current trends are you aware of in the wine industry?

Indeed, it is a product suitable for vegans. Other trends I’m aware of include how certain types of sparkling are also styled to drink with ice rocks, adorned and flavoured with mint, red fruits, etc.

Why Barcelona?

You are located in the Barcelona region. Please tell us why the region that you are in is so great for producing Cava.

El Penedès, an area where more than 95% of the Cava produced in Spain is produced, has a great diversity of microclimates, due to its coastal proximity and its altitude. The weather is specifically Mediterranean -that is, soft and warm. The Penedès Marítimo area (Baix Penedès and Garraf) is more temperate due to the influence and proximity of the sea. The Penedès Superior (Alt Penedès, Alt Camp, Anoia and Baix Llobregat) enjoys more frequent rainfall and greater contrast between maximum and minimum temperatures. The Penedàs Central (mainly Alt Penedès) is the compendium of both microclimates.

The diversity of our sparkling wines is born from the uniqueness of the terroir. A thousand flavors and aromas are the result of climatic differences, landscape and the variety of its soils – here dyed the green of its mountains, there the blue of the Mediterranean waters.

Focus on Preservation

We at Avina produce wine accessories with a big focus on wine preservation. This is a huge worldwide problem with just over 624 million bottles of wine being thrown down the drain each year in the UK alone! Do you get asked about wine preservation? Are you aware of the different types of wine and champagne stoppers on the market?

Yes, I am asked more and more frequently how to keep wines at home in the best way, sparkling wines once opened, due to their carbonic content they are extremely difficult to preserve since they tend to quickly lose once their main characteristic of bubbles once open.

There are different types of corks for the capping of sparkling – natural, synthetic corks, with granulated cork in SKYFALL. All our products are covered with agglomerated corks with two natural cork washers for a double security so the product will not lose even the most minimum quality.

Weekend Play with Wine

What is your favourite way to relax on the weekends? And if with wine, what do you do?

As I said before, one of my passions is the cocktail bar and one of the magic moments for me is to take a Boada’s Imperial (cocktail with a stroke of a bell, sparkling and adorned with a twist of orange peel) in the mythical cocktail Bar “Boadas” in Barcelona.